One Lonely Foxx
by InkMeYouVillian
Summary: So what does happen after Zaylee runs away from her friends and her crush? A lot actually. See what happens to both Zaylee and the Shane Gang as they have new adventures and run into many new dangers. Set during seasons 2 and 3
1. Chapter 1

**I was supposed to start putting these up like a week ago... so sorry for that. These are much shorter chapters than the ones in my previous fic, and there are close to fifty of them, so I may be posting between one and three a day. Because of the style difference, I didn't feel like they would fit with the previous fic. Sorry if anyone wanted to see the story continued in that fashion. Other than that, I hope you like the continuation of Zaylee's story!**

Zaylee pulled her mecha to a stop. She'd been riding top speed since the lunch she wanted to forget, and she had just now reached the outskirts of the western caverns. They looked undisturbed and beautiful. Zaylee smiled at it, but she was distracted by a yawn.

"What do you think guys," she directed to her slugs, "is it time to hit the sack?"

Her slugs nodded vigorously in agreement. Zaylee laughed at their cuteness and began making her way to an overhang that looked somewhat sheltered.

"And where do you think you're going missy?" A crackled voice came from behind her.

Zaylee spun around, blaster raised to see an old white woman, crooked with age, smiling at her.

"Don't shoot dreary, I'm only curious." The old lady said, completely unperturbed. Zaylee lowered her blaster a fraction of an inch. "You're not planning to go that way?" The woman continued, pointing a wrinkled finger in the direction of the western caverns.

"Perhaps…" Zaylee looked warily at her.

"That's a mighty dangerous venture, what put it in your head to do that?"

"I'm only curious."

"You can't lie to an old woman."

"I'm a Foxx, I can lie my way out of anything." Zaylee turned to leave.

"Ah so that's why you look so familiar. The famous Will Shane and your father have come this way before. They barely made it out alive. "

"This is different." Zaylee deadpanned, but she felt a seed of curiosity growing in the back of her mind. "I'm more capable."

"But it does not appear you are wiser if you are going alone."

"It's easier to take care of yourself when the only back you have to watch is your own."

"Ah that is a wise saying, but this is a situation where an extra set of eyes would come in handy. I'm surprised you didn't take Will's son, isn't he supposed to be a great slinger?"

"I'm more experienced than him." Zaylee bit out, struggling to keep her emotions from showing.

"That's not the whole truth, but I can see I can't talk you out of it." The woman sighed. "So here, take this, it will keep you safe from the dark water. It's quite prevalent in some of the caverns here." She presented a gold earring, with a sparking red gem set in it. The earring captured Zaylee's attention, and she reached out for it, before stopping short.

"Are you trying to sell me?" She accused.

"No, no my dear, this is a gift. Now if you want more, that's when it will start to cost ya." The old woman let out a light chuckle, and Zaylee felt herself suddenly opening up to the wise and witty old woman.

She pulled ten gold coins out of her boot. "I want it here." She said, grasping a bare part of her right ear lobe, directly below the two gold loops that rested at the top curve of her lobe.

"An enterprising woman," the woman smiled, taking the gold from her palm. "Whatever you'd like Miss Foxx." She led Zaylee inside a small dark hut she hadn't noticed before. The woman stuck a thin metal wire into the fire to cleanse it.

"You won't be making rash decisions like these down in the western caverns, now will ya?" The woman asked as she cleaned Zaylee's ear with an alcohol solution.

"How is this a rash decision?" Zaylee countered.

"I've seen many people pass this way to the western caverns; I've seen all the reasons to come here." She continued, not answering Zaylee's question. "You want to escape something. And if I'm not mistaken, it's the young Shane himself."

Zaylee felt herself go pale, but the woman continued, diligently cleaning the earring with the solution. "A word of advice, don't let your emotions get the better of you down there. I've seen many brave slingers venture down there, but very few return." The woman took the wire out of the fire and plunged it into Zaylee's cartilage. Zaylee squeezed her eyes shut as she felt the hot metal pierce through her ear. The woman pulled it out quickly and put the red gem in.

"You've got a good head," the old woman continued, "just keep it clear while you're down there."

"That's exactly what I plan to do." Zaylee retorted, finally getting the chance to speak.

"Well hopefully your determination can reach your subconscious as well." The old woman said as she led Zaylee back outside.

"Thank you…" Zaylee trailed off, searching for a name.

"Desdemona," the old woman smiled, "Come back and visit if you make it out alive."

"I promise this won't be the last time you see me." Zaylee smiled back.

"I certainly hope so; you're quite a lot like your father; determined, strong. I'm sure he is proud."

Zaylee smiled appreciatively as she got back on her mecha, and began riding towards the entrance of the western caverns. The pristine beauty was awe inspiring to her. As her mecha picked up speed, she could feel the burning of her ear as the blood rushed to try and heal it. She felt like the fire was burning away the hurt in her soul, and that she was going to be all right, eventually.

"Poor girl," Desdemona sighed as she watched Zaylee ride out of sight, "There's no way she'll survive it on her own in that condition."


	2. Chapter 2

**Yeah, I'm uploading again today. But there's a lot to go up, so I might as well try and put up as much as I can before things get really crazy again, so I hope you like it!**

"I don't understand why she left." Eli moaned, completely at a loss as to why his best friend left without any explanation.

He looked to Pronto. Eli knew he knew; Pulse had to have told him. But the Molenoid only pressed his lips tighter together. Somehow he had managed to keep quiet. But it had only been a day, Eli had a feeling he'd spill eventually.

"I'm sure she'll come back." Trixie said, coming from behind her boyfriend and wrapping her arms around him. Eli instinctively leaned into her. Kord and Pronto looked away; they weren't exactly excited about the new relationship. And in all honesty, Eli was still trying to figure out how he felt about it. But he didn't want to ruin their friendship, so he'd let it be for now.

"Come on, I want to show you some of the files Pulse lent us." Trixie cooed, taking his hand and leading him to her big computer. He sat on the chair and she made herself comfortable on his lap. Eli swore he could see Kord making a gagging motion in the reflection of the screen. From the way Pronto laughed he knew he did something.

"The only good thing that Panthrope is good for," Trixie muttered under her breath.

"Hey she can't help who her dad is." Eli argued leaning forward to see the screen. "What matters is the choice she made."

Trixie just rolled her eyes and pulled up the files. Eli couldn't focus on what she was talking about though; his mind just kept wandering back to Zaylee. It was odd to him that she ignored him at Bulls Eye, instead going supersonic so he couldn't catch up. He was also confused about the suddenness of it all, she was usually a master of preplanning; he was the wing-it-and-see-where-it-goes type. He had wanted to follow her so badly, catch up with her somehow, but he knew his team needed him back here to help deal with Blakk and the rest of the evil that haunted Slugterra. He was worried about where she had gone- the western caverns were a wild place for her to go on her own. He wouldn't even have known where she was if Pulse hadn't told him. But that was all she had told Eli. After Zaylee left, Pulse and Xia had gone out of their way to avoid him. Eli just couldn't shake the feeling that he had something to do with all of this.

"Eli?" Trixie asked, bringing him back to the moment, "are you ok? You seem… unfocused."

"No, I'm totally fine," he lied. "I think I just need some fresh air." Eli quickly got out of the chair, gently placing Trixie back in it and giving her a kiss before running off to Lucky.

He breathed the Slugterra air in deeply, trying to forget the questions that were assaulting His brain. Was Zaylee mad at him? If so, why? Was something else wrong? Why weren't Pulse and Xia talking to him?

He goaded my mecha faster, but he was already pushing the upper limits. Maybe if his mecha was as fast as hers, his would have been able to stop her. Maybe if he had found out sooner… He stopped suddenly. Why did he care so much? He shouldn't, right? Zaylee was his best friend, not his girlfriend. He was lucky that Trixie liked him so much. He couldn't comprehend why he couldn't stop worrying about Zay.

_It's just sibling love._ Eli tried to convince myself, and it worked. He turned his mecha around to return home to the Shane Gang. But there was one other thing he had to do.

Eli sped past their questions with a lame excuse and sped to his bedroom, locking the door behind him.

Grabbing a sheet of paper and pen, he shoved the random slug cartridges and other random things off his barely used desk and began to think of what to write. He felt lame doing this, she wouldn't read any of these until she got back, if she even read them at all, but she was family to Eli. She was family, and she had been for a long time. And this was the sort of thing that family did, right?


	3. Chapter 3

Zaylee swallowed back another yawn. She had no idea how long she'd been up, but it was probably close to 24 hours now. Her ear still burned, but it made her feel stronger.

A sudden growl in her stomach reminded her how long it had been since her last meal. _And the last time she saw Eli…_ She angrily shook the thought out of her head as she reached for her duffle bag, which still had traces of dust on it from its long period of un-use. She pulled out some beef jerky for herself and some pellets for her slugs. They squeaked excitedly and hopped towards the food she scattered on the ground for them. She forced a smile for them, but her mind was elsewhere. Was she wearing her emotions so much on her sleeve that some old lady who knew nothing about her could tell exactly what was going on in her life?

She yawned again. It was definitely late. But she didn't want to go to bed quite yet. These new caverns were so beautiful. There were mushrooms she'd never seen before, with all sorts of colors and patterns. The rocks were different, some possessing a dull glow that gave the cavern the look of eternal sunset. She gave a small smile. It had been a while since she had seen one of those.

She looked down at her slugs; apparently she wasn't the only tired one. She let out a long sigh. Perhaps it really was time to sleep. She'd have as much time as she wanted when she woke up to explore. The thought sent a chill down her spine. No clocks, no rules, no obligations. She hadn't felt this free since she first set foot in Slugterra. She knew why she was a lone wolf; she was in love with the freedom that came with it. She wasn't only here to run from her feelings. She was here to return to what made her Zaylee Foxx.

A genuine smile crossed her lips. She got the sleeping bag and small pillow she had stuffed in the bottom of her duffle and laid them down under her mecha. She pulled a tarp from a storage compartment in her mecha, and laid it across the top, making a small tent. Out of paranoid habit, she shot Ilia into the air, making her and her makeshift tent disappear. She crawled into her sleeping bag, her slugs making little nests in the goings and angles of her mecha.

She laid her head on her small pillow, her last waking thoughts hoping that she wouldn't dream tonight.

But as exhaustion took over her body, and she was no longer in control, her mind took her to the places she feared to roam.


	4. Chapter 4

**Okay, so a few things for clarification, the letters will not always be congruent with the actual plot, and I did not make as many letter as Eli wrote. They're just another form of story-telling so you can see what the Shane Gang is up to, and to also see a bit more of what Eli may or may not be feeling. You'll start to see me use itallics a lot, but I only use them for the letters, dream sequences, and when Eli or Zaylee talk to the shadow clan.  
Hopefully that'll keep you guys from getting confused in the future! R&R~**

_Dear Zaylee,_

_I just wanted you to know I'll be thinking of you while you're gone. I still haven't gotten over the shock of you leaving. Then again, I never had really gotten over the shock of finding you again in Slugterra. It had been so long since we'd seen each other, and we honestly didn't get to see each other enough._

_I guess though, that's all to be expected. You were always so good at ditching me when we were kids. You'd disappear and re-appear just to disappear again. First you'd leave me seven hours a day for school, and then even when I started going to school with you I could never find you until you showed up at my backdoor, ready to play._

_Do you remember all the times we played, pretending to be just like our dads? Funny how getting our wish didn't turn out quite like we wanted it to. But we've still got each other, and we're still family. _

_So I know you probably won't see this until you get home, but remember, even if you're inexplicably mad at me, I'm thinking of you, and I want you to come home soon. And safe._

_Eli._

He sealed the letter, ignoring the feelings that were starting to grip his chest. They were just friends. No, they were family, and this is what family did for each other.


	5. Chapter 5

**DREAM SEQUENCE! If you thought the last chapter was a bit emotional, you better buckle up for what I have in store next! Enjoy!**

_She held her rapidly swelling hand to her chest as the tears pricked her eyes. The 5-year old Eli had shoved her too hard in their slug slinging game and she had fallen the wrong way on her wrist…_

Zaylee willed herself to wake up. She knew the memory too well. But her body wouldn't obey.

_…"Zayls, are you okay?" The young Eli asked, scooting over to her in the lush summer grass._

_"No!" She sobbed, "And it's your fault!"…_

Zaylee griped her sleeping bag tighter. Somewhere else in her mind she was wondering what would happen if she told Eli those words now.

_…"Zayls," Eli reached out a small hand to the 7-year old Zaylee. She angrily scooted away…_

Not much had changed since then, he was still the big-hearted hero, and she just wanted to suffer in silence.

_... "Zaylee." Eli said seriously, placing a determined hand on her shoulder. "I'm sorry, I never meant to hurt you. You're my best friend. I never want to hurt you."_

_Zaylee sniffled, but finally relented, not being able to stay mad at her favorite playmate. She smiled and gave him a forgiving hug. _

_"Come on, let's go put some ice on it." She directed the younger…_

Zaylee gasped, finally forcing her body to wake up. Tears were streaming down her face and she hopelessly clutched her wrist, as if the bone had never healed. But there were new unhealed wounds now.

_"I never want to hurt you…" _The words swam around in her head as she let a violent sob escape her lips.

But he did hurt her, oh he did. Whether he knew it or not, he had broken her once again.


	6. Chapter 6

**Hmm, I wonder what Zaylee's other friends are doing in her absence. Not much really, but they sure do miss her! (I have literally started writing the most cheesy and cliche intros, someone stop me).**

Xia cursed as she stubbed her toe on the corner of the couch again. She was not acclimating well to staying so long in Zaylee's apartment. Nor the fact that Zaylee was gone. For an undefined period of time. It could be anywhere from weeks to years. And that was unsettling to her. She heard Zaylee's phone ring and she fumbled around on the walls until she found the button that pulled up the screen. She clicked it and cursed again as the projector shined right in her eyes.

"Yeah, I'm not happy about this either." Pulse's voice came across the line.

"We couldn't stop her." Xia responded dejectedly.

"It's not our fault." Pulse consoled.

"Yeah, I guess so. I'd love to give a good beating to the person whose fault it is." Xia hissed.

"Not that he knows it."

"Why don't we just tell him?"

"It breaks girl code."

"What code?"

"You don't go telling your friend's crush that they have a crush on them."

"That's confusing and to rule-y. You know what I like? Breaking rules."

"Agreed, but Zaylee would be more than pissed when she got back if she found out we did that."

"She doesn't have to know…"

"Good luck keeping that from happening."

"You know what we can do?"

"What?"

"We can convince Trixie to break up with Eli…" Xia grinned evilly.

"I dunno… that doesn't seem like it would bode well either…"

"Fine, but I hate sitting around and doing nothing about it… I just wish Zaylee would come back."

"Me too, we were practically a gang. Now we're just… some random people."

"Random people who lack their best friend."

"And adventure."

"We can adventure without Zaylee."

"Yeah," Pulse frowned, "Personally, she was the only reason I went on any of those crazy save-the-day type things."

"Me too…" Xia shared Pulse's frown. "So what do we do?"

"We wait for her to come back?"

"I guess. Hey, if you're not busy with Pronto tonight, maybe we can go do something? Danna too. I guess it wouldn't be too different."

"Yeah, I'm free. I've been kinda avoiding the Shane gang since well, yeah. Go ahead and call Dana and we'll plan something"

"Let's meet at the Corkscrew Club in a like an hour. Just let me go get Zaylee's mail first."

Xia fumbled around the wall for the off switch, before heading out to pick up the mail, locking all five locks, just like Zaylee would.


	7. Chapter 7

**More letters! This is where I start to tie in cannon events, so bare with me, it's not my strong suit. But I hope I still did this chapter justice!**

_Zay,_

_All I can say is what a rough day today turned out to be. We were going to pull off this great heist with our new gang member I was telling you about, when it all turned into a bad trap. Nacho ambushed us and Twist turned out to be a double agent working for no other than Blakk. His betrayal hurt like no other I've experienced. I know you're probably well versed on the topic, the way you can rant about your mom and her adopted child, but I almost want to argue that what Twist did was even worse. Who knows how many Shane Gang secrets he knows now, and what Blakk will do with them._

_The worst part was he said my dad was the reason he had this grudge against me or whatever. You know a lot more about Slugterra than I do, and I know you won't see these for a while, but maybe you can help me figure out the truth. Twist claimed my dad was the reason he was an orphan. My dad had never told me any stories like that, but he wasn't always the most open about everything that happened in Slugterra. Hopefully when you get back you can help me uncover some of the secrets to our heritage. You share as much of the burden of knowing about the surface world as I do. I hope you come home soon; it's tough having two close friends walk away in such a short time frame. Not that I'm saying you betrayed me like Twist did, but your absence still hurts. We could really use a fifth member around- Blakk's getting stronger by the day and with Twist falling through and all… I really could use your help. I miss you a lot Zays and I hope you come home soon. _

_With care,_

_Eli_


	8. Chapter 8

**Another reminder that the letters are on a different timeline than the actual story.**

Zaylee woke up stiff, ill-rested. The ground had made a less comfortable mattress than she had planned, and her dreams continued to haunt her no matter what she tried. A week in the beautiful cavern had done nothing to remedy that. She groaned rubbing the crick in her neck. Her whole forgetting about Eli plan was not going so well. Not that dwelling on it now was going to help her either.

Rexy chirped at her. Her slugs seemed to have slept better than she had, but she could tell they were worried about her. She didn't have time to dwell on such trivial matters though. She had pioneering to do.

Zaylee quickly packed her haphazard tent and began working her way to the next part of the cavern. It was relatively small, but there was still so much to see. Excitement began to work its way into her bones. The mushrooms were even larger than yesterday, she loved them all. Some glowed, some had stripes. The rocks were equally as amazing. They radiated all sorts of colors and shades she felt like she had to make up names for. It was beautiful. She had never seen anywhere else in Slugterra that was so untouched. She scribbled random notes about each new item in her notebook, and then snapped pictures of each thing, hoping that her camera would have enough memory for everything.

"So what do we do now?" She looked at her slugs. This cavern wasn't big enough to keep her captivated forever, and Zaylee was itching for more, bigger adventure. She really wasn't the cartographer or the geologist type; she was more of the fighting new villains and big scary monsters type.

She spotted a dark cave a ways ahead. Rexy hopped on her shoulder, and Snoop made his way to the head of her PAN-T3R, his golden glow a lantern as she headed into the mouth of the entrance. As the path began to slope downwards, her excitement began to build. The cave began to narrow until the only way forward was through a little crack, radiating red through the wall. Abandoning her mecha, she squeezed her way through the small crack. It led into a large open cavern, much bigger than the one she had been in earlier. There was barely any light and Zaylee had to squint to get her eyes to adjust. Something moved in her peripheral vision. The paranoia began kicking in again, but she pressed onwards. Something crushed under her foot. She looked down and gasped. Maybe Desdemona was right. She was in for more than she had bargained for.


	9. Chapter 9

_Zayls,_

_You haven't even been gone two weeks and I don't think I've missed anyone more. Not even my dad I know he's not coming back. But you, your trip is indefinite, the promise of you returning is uncertain. You are undefined. In more ways than one. I worry a lot about you, probably too much. But I don't want to lose another family member. I know you're capable, but it's not like you can call for help if something bad happens. I really hope you know what you're doing. I don't think I could handle losing you. You're the only one who helped me get over losing my Dad. Who would be there for me if I lost you?_

Eli took a breath. The feelings he felt for Zaylee weren't anything like what he felt for Trixie. Wherever his girlfriend had ridden off to this evening. But as the memories came back to assail him, he wanted nothing more than to hide himself in Zaylee's strong embrace. He put his pen back on the paper and tried to write the pain away.

_Remember when I first found out? My mom kept me home from school that day, and I spent the entire day, numb in a corner, as visitors came and went offering consolations for my weeping mother. You didn't come in the front door with your mother though, you knocked on the back door like you always did. You were out of breath when I opened it for you. You had run straight there as soon as you heard the news. That was the only time I cried for him. You held me for hours on the back steps, never saying a thing. It was just what I needed. You were the anchor for my suddenly lost boat. And when our parents finally made us come inside you read the letter he had left me ten times at least. You made me feel so proud of my heritage. Of being a Shane. You helped me plan everything we were going to do when we got to live out our parent's legacy -even if you got a head start- and then after that you made me laugh until I was crying for joy. You were the best during that time. Even though you barely talked to me, since you were in middle school and I was still a fifth grader, when I needed you, you were there without a second thought. You're my best friend, and the closest thing I have to family down here. So don't die, ok? I need you to come back._

_Eli_

Eli wiped the stray tear from the paper, careful not to smear the ink.

**There is no proper intro to that. Yeah, I just killed you all with major feels. Not sorry. Hope you enjoyed! I'll keep trying to post twice a day, but we'll see. Things are about to get really crazy, so just bare with me and hold on.**


	10. Chapter 10

**This one is super short, but it sets the stage for later stuff. And don't worry about Zaylee, we'll get back to her later.**

"Pronto…" Trixie's determined smile popped up in front of him, blocking his view of his favorite late night drama. First he let out a noise of protest, then one of fear as he registered the look on Trixie's face. He knew exactly what she was up to.

"You're pretty close to Pulse right?" She began. Pronto pressed his lips together. He couldn't spill. Pulse would torch him for sure.

"So you know why she and Xia are avoiding me at all costs?" She pressed on, her voice accusing, her eyes narrow slits.

Pronto felt the sweat trickle down his back. But he had to keep quiet.

Trixie held him in her glare for a few more terror-inducing seconds before turning away frowning.

"Fine." She huffed. "I'll ask them myself." She stomped off angrily, heading towards the garage.

Pronto was about to call her to stop her, but he decided against it. Pulse may rip her to shreds, but she had every reason. If she thought this was Trixie's fault- it probably was. And as Erin's dutiful lover, he would take her side, no matter the circumstances.


	11. Chapter 11

**Geez, another short one. Sorry, maybe I'll post some more to make up for the lack of length that's been going on lately. Oh well. Here, have some more tie-in to cannon stuff.**

_Zays, I just gotta complain today. I just seem to have the bad habit of meeting teens that I think are alright until they try and kill me or steal something from me because they have some sort of vendetta against my dad. It's crazy. She was a great slinger, almost stealthier than you- just almost. Her name was Dana Pore. Her dad was part of our dad's gang. I wish I could just call you up and ask you what you know about her, but you're somewhere- who knows where and I have no way of contacting you. I also figured out how to talk to the Shadow clan. It's some sort of device you wear on your head. The leader called it a Shadow Walker. Maybe we can use it to figure out why you don't need it. I have so many things I want to do with you when you get back. I really do miss you like crazy. I could really use your help on some of the things we're trying to plan. Or at least your friend's help, but they won't talk to me for some reason. I hate to admit it, but I was really starting to get used to you being around again, and I really was getting used to you helping me out when I was in a bind. You always seemed to be there when I needed it most. I don't have that luxury anymore. I hope you come back soon. Safe- but soon. You have no clue how much I miss you right now. And how much I would do anything for you to come back this very instant._

_Hope to see you soon,_

_Eli_


	12. Chapter 12

**Yeez, I'm bad at consistency and keeping promises. I'm just going to upload a couple chapters right now to make up for that... Back to Zaylee's story line now!**

Zaylee gulped. That was a human skull she had just stepped on.

_"Many brave souls venture down there, few return"_

Desdemona had been so right, she was so screwed.

She stayed rooted to the spot, forcing her body to fight the overwhelming fear and load Rexy into her blaster to face whatever kept shooting in and out of her peripherals. Then one appeared right in front of her. It looked like a deformed version of the Shadow Clan. They had red stripes instead of green; they were fanged, bigger, and stronger. There were claws and spikes everywhere. Whatever they were, they looked much more vicious than the Shadow Clan she knew, and much more, dare she assume, evil.

She didn't even have time to sling Rexy before the monster knocked her to the ground. Was this one of B.E.E's experiments? Or a result of the Dark Water that was more abundant down here? Her ear was on fire again. It was definitely the Dark Water. She could see it now that she was on her back, dripping from the ceiling of the cavern, oozing out of every crack. No wonder this cavern was so dead.

Looking up she realized she was surrounded by the Shadow Monsters. She liked that name for them; however, she was not a fan of them. They were everywhere she looked. She was thinking too much and not fighting enough. She reloaded her blaster, shooting Spike her Acus, followed by Halo her Flaringo. But there were just so many of them. She was really wishing she had some form of back up now… She needed time to come up with some sort of plan. She needed someone to cover her left flank. She needed someone to take the offensive with her. Like Eli would do instinctively.

The thought made her entire body freeze. The next second she was overwhelmed. She felt a ripping pain through her left thigh, followed by the warm feeling of blood seeping down her leg. She let out a cry and shot the nearest aggressor in the face with Rexy. These were nothing like the Shadow Clan she knew. They were evil and they were going to kill her. And then more than likely eat her. She shot Jett at them, smiling as they screamed at the feeling of the Aquabeek's cold water attacking them. That would be great if she had other water slugs. But no, she'd have to wait for Jett to return. She shot out Thor her Tazerling followed by her Frost Crawler, Icy, desperate for anything to give her enough time to escape. She wished again that she had any one to help her. The lone wolf needed a pack. Hell, Zaylee would even take Trixie at this point. Zaylee smiled grimly, the skinny bitch would make excellent bait. She winced as the gash in her leg protested against her changing her stance.

The momentary falter was just enough for the Shadow Monsters to surround her again. She was so screwed, and Jett was only now coming back.

Suddenly, she felt the familiar hum of activity as the shadows clouded around her and the Shadow Clan she knew and love came to her rescue. Mfalme nodded at her and she quickly squeezed her way out of the crack in the cavern wall despite her protesting leg and mounted her mecha, riding as fast as she could out of the cavern.

She'd ask questions later, right now, she needed to tend to her leg before it got any worse.


	13. Chapter 13

**Hmmm... I wonder what Zaylee's friends are up to... (just ignore the cheesey intros... but I have fun with them.)**

Trixie knew where they were going to be. It wasn't that difficult to figure out. They were such creatures of habit. And creature was the only word to describe them. But she had to act kind to them right now. Having people hate her was not something she appreciated- even if it might be her fault.

She spotted them mounting their mechas outside of Ricochet's Pizza. Quickly, she pulled herself beside them and put on her most sincere act.

"Hey guys," She almost sang. "Do you have a second to talk?"

Pulse and Xia stared with a mix of surprise and hate for a few seconds before Xia finally broke the silence. "Sure…" she began; her gaze stoic and unemotional as she could keep it. Pulse had gained a meaner glare.

"I was just curious if everything is okay between us, I mean, we haven't really had the opportunity to talk in a while, and it just seemed odd to me. Or maybe I'm just being self-conscious." She rubbed the back of her neck, trying to not look accusing.

Xia tried to come up with a kind lie to keep the peace, but Pulse had other ideas.

"It's your fault." She growled.

"What?" Trixie asked with a feigned innocence.

"You're the reason Zaylee left." Pulse growled again, struggling to keep her voice low.

"What are you talking about?" Trixie shot back.

"She left because you kissed Eli." Xia piped up, worried that her friend would rip the read-head to shreds if she got the chance.

Trixie paused for a moment, confused.

"You stole her man! Her heart is freaking broken and it's your fault!" Pulse snapped.

Trixie's eyes widened in realization. "It's not my fault." She said defiantly.

"What are you talking about?" Pulse continued to scream.

"She said it was okay!" Trixie fought back. "I asked her like a month ago! If things have changed between now and then, I'm sorry! But I asked her if she liked him. She said no, and that if I wanted him, I could have him. It's not my fault okay?"

"LIAR!" Pulse yelled, leaping towards Trixie. Xia pulled her back firmly.

"No," she commanded. "She's telling the truth." Xia's eyes were dark and sad as studied Trixie's face, finding her words to be painfully true.

"We can't just let her go!" Pulse sulked, still angry as Trixie rode off.

"We don't have a choice." Xia stood her ground. "We can't make an enemy any more than we already have out of her."

"She had to be lying."

"No. Zaylee was the one to lie to her."

"Why would she do that?"

"Is she going to reveal her true feelings to someone like her? No, she's going to lie like a rug and then push all her emotions under that rug."

"Zaylee needs to come back."

"I know. But you know breaking Trixie and Eli up won't bring her back any sooner, so forget that idea."

Trixie frowned, deep in thought as she rode back to the hide out. The encounter had got her thinking. And thinking was always a bad thing. Maybe her feelings for Eli weren't as strong as she had originally thought. But she couldn't exactly end the relationship. That was everybody's unspoken fear, it would ruin the gang. She had to do something though, but what?


	14. Chapter 14

Zaylee managed to get herself to a secluded part of the cavern she had been in previously before sliding off her mecha and leaning against the nearest rock. She gripped her leg in pain, tears stinging the corners of her eyes. But she didn't cry over pain. Even if the cut was deep and she had to have lost an unhealthy amount of blood.

She looked down. It was bad; the dark red liquid had even stained her boot. She leaned her head back against the rock, struggling against the pain. She had not planned ahead for getting almost killed. She took another deep breath, scrunching her face up against the burning, throbbing pain.

Suddenly, it vanished. This was it, she had passed out from blood loss, she was going to bleed out and die. Xia was going to so kill her in the afterlife. But then she opened her eyes. She was not dead in the least. She was still in the cavern, still pointlessly clutching her leg.

She looked down. Every last bit of blood was gone; there were only the faintest three scars visible underneath the rips in her pants where the Shadow Monster's claws had been. Zaylee's jaw fell slack in amazement and confusion, maybe she was dead. However, a chirping in front of her changed that idea. There between her legs was a pale green slug. A Boon Doc.

"No way…" Zaylee muttered. She had searched one for all her life, and she finds one here? Could they even survive here?

"Hey little guy." She smiles at the slug. "Thanks for that, I was in quite a fix there."

The slug smiled in appreciation and hopped closer to Zaylee. He had a scar across his face that had blinded his one eye. Zaylee carefully ran her thumb across the top of the scar. The slug backed away uncertainly.

"Hey, I don't mean any harm I'm just curious."

The Boon Doc hung his head, sad, as if the scar would scare Zaylee off.

"Don't be sad, I'm just wondering how you got it."

The slug continued to pout, and began to hop away.

"No come back! I didn't mean to upset you! It's not a bad thing!" Zaylee reached after him. "Look, we can be pals." She pointed to the new scars on her legs.

The slug looked back at her hopefully, even blind, he still seemed to know exactly what was going on around him.

"I could really use a Boon Doc." Zaylee offered, "I bet all of us would be glad to have you on the team."

Rexy stuck his head out of his tube and squeaked in agreement. The Boon Doc grinned widely and hopped back to Zaylee.

"I bet with a battle scar like that you've got loads of experience too. You seem like the perfect match for me. How about the name Paeon?"

The little green slug grinned even larger and found an empty home amongst Zaylee's tubes on her belt, making quick friends with the rest of her slugs.

Zaylee sighed; it had been an exhausting morning. She hoped Mfalme would come and talk to her about what all of that was.

**Again, I'm really sorry about the inconsistency and the short chapters and the not posting as much as I should for you avid readers who make my day constantly; however, I literally am leaving for home in two days and I have to get my life together before then so just bare with me and thanks for all the support and reviews! They always make my day!**


	15. Chapter 15

Eli walked into Ricochet's Pizza, breathing in the familiar air of tomato sauce and slugs. He sat down at a table near the kitchen, kicking his feet up and tossing some gold on the counter.

"What, not here to work for your food?" Mario joked with the younger boy.

"I uh, actually needed some advice."

"As long as it doesn't involve slug-slinging, I'm happy to help a friend in need."

"You still in 'retirement'?"

"You know the answer to that one." Mario huffed.

"Of course, but I need different advice today… girl advice."

"Oh man, you've got a rough one on your plate from what I've heard."

"What am I some sort of celebrity in the tabloids?"

"Don't get a big ego man. No, that was my love life. But Zaylee and her friends came here on a regular basis. I basically know the entire side of their story. Loud talkers. But I guess you want to tell me your side of the story first."

"Their side of the story?"

"Don't act dumb man; the world doesn't revolve around you."

"I never said that. I just didn't know they were involved."

"How clueless are you?"

"What's their side of the story?"

"Nu-uh, you first man. You want good advice? I gotta be well informed."

"Well alright. I guess what I'm looking for is advice on me and Trixie. I mean, we're sorta together now, but I don't know if it's right." Eli looked to Mario. The man motioned for him to continue.

"It just was all so sudden, I thought I'd be able to sort out my feelings, but I'm just unsure. I don't want to mess up anything within the gang if I break up with her, but I don't know if I want to stay with her."

"Well my friend," Mario twirled his Speedstinger around in his ladle, "You've got quite the predicament. I'm not sure really what to say here; you're going to be some degree of unhappy one way or another. But I will give you the best girl advice I know. They are complicated beyond your imagination. It's like disarming a bomb, one wrong move and the whole thing blows up in your face. So if you do break up with Trixie, be careful. And if you don't, still be careful, because if she thinks you're no longer into her, it's going to be worse than a Tormato in a living room."

Eli winced; that was not what he wanted to hear. Not that he knew exactly what he wanted to hear in the first place. "What's the girl's side of the story?" He asked again.

"I'm pretty sure they'd be pissed if they knew I told you, but I think you have a right to know." Mario took a deep breath, still uncertain if he should really tell Eli the truth. "Your relationship with Trixie is the reason that Zaylee left." He rushed the words out, as if lingering on the words to long would bring Pulse, Xia, and Dana blasting into his restaurant.

"What?" Eli looked at his friend. "That doesn't make any sense… why would that be true?"

"Look, that's all I know," Mario lied, "but think about it. And then really think about the relationship choices you make from here on out. Not only with Trixie." Mario turned to pick up a ringing phone leaving Eli to think.

Could Zaylee have been jealous? If she was why didn't she say anything? Okay, so Eli could answer the second question pretty easily. But did Zaylee actually like him? Were the feelings he had harbored for Zaylee since they met again mutual? She had really grown up in all the right places… Was their friendship destined to be more? Did he actually like Zaylee or was he just going to ruin another friendship? And was Mario serious? Or was Eli jumping to his own conclusions? He held his head in his hands looking down at his pizza. He was as Zaylee would say "in over his head", and there was certainly no simple painless way out.

**Dun-dun-dunn whatever will happen to the young Shane as he tries to figure out just exactly what he's doing with his love life? And what's going to happen to Zaylee? Read on and review to find out!**


	16. Chapter 16

Xia smacked her forehead. Why hadn't she thought of this before? Blink was the perfect correspondent between her and Zaylee. She rushed from the couch where she was watching Zaylee's TV to go get her teleporting slug and her blaster from the kitchen. It was genius.

Was it? She stopped in the middle of her friend's big living room. This wasn't what Zaylee wanted. She wanted to be alone. She didn't need to know about the letters Eli was sending her. Not that Xia needed to know what was in them either. Nor had she the right to build a scanner that could read the letters without opening the envelopes. But too late in that regard.

Xia frowned, she just wanted to know if Zaylee was okay, or at least alive. Maybe she could just send a little short something, just to make sure.

She rummaged through the house, looking for paper and pencil. Finally settling on a napkin and a dust covered pen she had discovered under the refrigerator, she sat down at the kitchen island and thought of what to write.

And she thought, and thought and thought. She twirled and flipped the pen. She sat in every position known to man. And a few known only to woman as well. She sucked on the tip of the pen, only to spit out a clump of dust. Eventually she just wrote down probably the lamest thing in the history of ever, not wanting to upset her friend by imposing on her "me and recovery" time.

She finally folded up the napkin and handed it to Blink, who happily took it in his mouth.

"Put this in Zaylee's bag and then come right back." She told the little slug. He nodded and Xia loaded him into her blaster before she flung open the door to Zaylee's small balcony and shot Blink across the sky.

She leaned against the banister, her short hair falling around her face as she waited for the little slug to come back. Whatever happened, she just hoped Zaylee would hurry up and come back already.

**Cute little elf-person (yeah, Xia's an elf lately, she still hasn't decided) (Don't blame her though, characterization is hard) Anyways, I probably won't be able to post tomorrow because I have to turn in two of my finals, return my books and drive home, so don't be offended, I'll come back as soon as possible. And then I'll also have time to update Too Hott as well, so stay tuned!~**


	17. Chapter 17

**Sorry for the hiatus, college life... yeah. But I'm back now for a while, so let's see what happens to our heroes and their friends next!**

_Zay,_

_You're probably going to kill me for what I'm about to say, but the rest of the gang found out about the surface world._

_Now before you drop this letter and ride over here to kill me- whenever you may read it- let me explain: a whole lot more people would know about the surface otherwise. There was this crazy goon who was trying to lead an expedition to the surface using my great-uncle's journal. I'm not sure if you ever met him, but he was a great man. Long story short, I had to burn the journal to keep our secrets safe, which kinda sucked because that would have really helped out on figuring out a lot about Slugterra and its secrets. I had to tell the rest of my gang so they would trust me and help me out. _

_Aside from that recent and crazy development, I'm still missing you. Trixie's starting acting weird; I could really use some girl advice from you right about now, because eventually I am going to have to confront her about it, and I'm still just a fifteen year old guy and I have no idea how to make that a non-awkward situation. So please, come back so you can keep saving my behind from life-or-death, and socially-awkward situations._

_With all my care,_

_Eli_


	18. Chapter 18

**FINALLY getting back to to Zaylee's plot. I mean it's not like she's the main character of this fic or anything... yeah, keep reading! :)**

_Are you alright my child?_ Mfalme approached Zaylee. She was sitting underneath a mushroom, munching on some dried fruit as she waited for the water dripping off the mushroom to refill her water bottle.

_Quite fine, thanks to a new friend I made. _She presented Paeon in the palm of her hand.

Mfalme held out his own hand and Paeon jumped to him. The king examined the little green slug before returning him to Zaylee.

_He is a wise and kind slug, you are fortunate to have found him._

_I know. _Zaylee responded, smiling down at the blind slug. She looked back up at Mfalme, her face becoming serious. _What were those things?_

_The Night-Clan. They are like us, but much more evil. They thrive off dark water and human flesh._

_I picked up on that. _Zaylee grimaced. _How did you know to come? Or was I just lucky?_

_We could sense a disturbance down here. Our senses are tuned to their activities. They are a great danger to Slugterra. Much as with the Dark Bain we try to stop them from increasing their threat._

_Really? You don't strike me as the type to help outsiders. _Mfalme had told her about the Dark Bain before, the cracking force-field, the impending doom. She tried not to think about it too much, she had enough on her plate to worry about at the moment.

_It depends on whether or not they try to shoot us. _Mfalme smiled. _If the Night Clan is not contained here, they will look for more food. They could decimate the entire population of Slugterra in less than a year if we don't stop them when they attack people who enter their territory._

_Why not destroy them outright?_

_Easier said than done my child._

_She is a brave one. _A female clans-member spoke up from behind Mfalme

_Yes but Zaylee is not ready to face such an evil yet. _The king responded.

_What are you implying? _Zaylee interrupted.

_Let me start you with a story. _Mfalme replied, taking a seat in front of Zaylee. The other clans-members there followed suit. _Do you know how we met your father and Will Shane?_


	19. Chapter 19

_Zays,_

_Not a lot has been going on since you left, but I guess I should keep you updated on what has happened._

_Yesterday we saw Blakk again for the first time in a while. I had almost thought he had given up. Well anyways, we were out patrolling and we saw a few of his henchmen. Of course, a slug-slinging battle of epic proportions ensued. It was going pretty well until a Blakk industries train pulled up, and out stepped Nacho, Twist, and Blakk himself. I told you about Twist in some older letters, remember? Backstabbing liar and all that. We kinda got captured, which I blame on Pronto, but obviously I devised a plan to get us out. It would have been nice if you were there to help out though. Still, we're all okay now, but Trixie's been acting kind of distant lately. I wish you were here to give me some relationship advice. I asked Mario Bravado, but that did more harm than good in my opinion. _

_I also finally caught a Hover Bug slug the other day. Man those guys are really fast. I named him Bugsy. You'll probably make fun of that name when you get back; you always give your slugs much fancier names than I do. _

_I still really miss you. I know that sounds lame, but I do. I miss you for a lot of reasons. And I can't get over the fact I have no idea when you're coming home._

Eli stopped. He was getting carried away. The feelings he had for Zaylee couldn't exist. They didn't exist. Not at all. He was just letting what Mario had said get to him. He didn't even know if it was true.

_So just hurry up and come back, okay?_

Eli scribbled in the conclusion before quickly sealing the letter. He slammed his head down on his desk, startling Joules who had been observing him the whole time. Whatever his brain was doing to him, it needed to stop.

**it appears our young Shane is having some issues... I do wonder how he'll deal with them. hmmmm...**


	20. Chapter 20

**Gah I'm so bad at updating! sorry! I'll try and make up for some of that today! So, what's next in the world of Eli Shane? Who will get hurt, who will fall in love, and most importantly, who will survive? **

The Shane Gang looked at the shoddy building, bursting with color from every window as the bass rumbled under their feet.

"Are you sure this is the place?" Kord asked, shifting his weight nervously.

"Absolutely!" Pronto replied, "Erin and I go here all the time."

"It looks a little small." The cave troll griped. "How am I supposed to fit in there?"

"Come on Kord, It'll be fun. It's about time we took a night just to cut loose." Eli nudged him.

"Alright," Kord frowned, trudging up to the door.

Eli reached for Trixie's hand, but she simply brushed it away. Eli shot her a questioning glance, which she just ignored.

Once the bouncer let them through, Eli's evening did not improve. Almost immediately, Trixie ordered him to go get her a drink, and then she found the nearest single guy to go dancing with.

It was all part of her plan. If she convinced Eli she was a bad girlfriend, he'd want to break up with her, and then things would go back to normal. So yes, while the big oaf she was dancing with smelled, it would be worth it. And he didn't have to bad of a face, so it was okay. Two songs later, she moved on to the next guy.

Eli dropped the drinks as soon as he saw Trixie grinding against some ugly slinger with a beard. He was about to go up to her and end it, but something stopped him. He didn't want to. Yes he was miffed about it, but it just didn't seem like it was worth creating a scene over. He'd just quietly talk to her when they got home, and sort everything out.

He ignored the now spilled and shattered drinks on the ground and found himself a nice wall near the bar to lean against while he watched Trixie move on to the next guy and the next. It didn't bother him that she was doing it, but the fact that there was no hint of remorse in her face ticked him off a little. As did the fact that neither Kord nor Pronto seemed to question it at all. They almost looked glad to see her dancing with someone new every five minutes. He blew a strand of black hair out of his face, trying to figure out what was going on. Was this some sort of cruel prank that they were pulling on him? Or was he not the only one who thought maybe it was time to take the romance out of their group?

"Girl trouble, huh?" Mario Bravado asked, suddenly appearing next to him.

"Oh hey, what are you doing here?" Eli asked, surprised to see such a big name in such a run-down club.

"Dude, it's only like the most popular club within like a twenty-cavern radius."

Eli raised an eyebrow at this, but shrugged. There was a lot that was different between here and the surface world. He looked back at Trixie, who was dancing with her tenth guy. Or was it her fifteenth? Eli couldn't keep up. "Is it weird I don't care?" He asked Mario.

"No, I think that space in your heart, your mind, your life, your being man, is reserved for someone else. Someone who is your mirror in slinging. Knows everything you like, everything you hate. Shares your sense of humor. Has the same level of slug connection as you do. Can out-race you, out-sling you. Dude, Trixie's your friend, but you know man, you know who you really like." Mario gave Eli a hard look. "I found someone like that once, right in this very club. But she wasn't ready for it yet, and neither am I."

Eli returned Mario's look. "I think I found that girl too. I was just too dumb to notice it before." He looked back into the crowd at Trixie. "And it's definitely not her. Thanks for the advice." He clasped Mario on the shoulder before walking out of the club. He needed to know the truth. And he knew exactly where that truth would come from. He may just get mauled in the process.


	21. Chapter 21

_Child, you have bravery flowing through your veins. But you also have the brashness that was your father's as well. We have known the Shanes long before Will, but each one comes to us in their due time in their own way. Micah and Will came down to these caverns chasing after a slug they had never seen before. However, before they could capture the slug, they ended up in the Night Clan's territory. They were brave, strong, but not strong enough to fight all of them off. _

_We sensed the disturbance and came to help. Micah was ready to shoot us; but Will remembered his uncle telling him about the Shadow Clan. He knew we were there to help. Will Shane knew who we really were. It was only after the fight that Micah realized he could talk to us. They often came down with us when there were other disturbances. Many more people were saved when Will and Micah helped us; they were less likely to shoot us if they saw a Shane or a Foxx with us. _

_You want me to do that too. _Zaylee interrupted.

_Yes my child, but you are not ready for that. _Mfalme responded. _However, you have great potential. _

_You're getting at something, aren't you? _Zaylee asked, waving a piece of dried fruit at Mfalme.

_Eventually, but we're not there yet._

_More story time?_

_No, lesson time. Walk with me._

Zaylee obediently got up, following Mfalme through a canyon and down a barely visible pathway into a new cavern, surrounded with different kinds of mushrooms. Some of which she had recognized from the previous cavern, but new ones were also surrounding her, huge, all the colors she could imagine and more.

_You have to understand the small parts of a cavern to know its inner workings and how to use it to your benefit._

_I do that already._

_Do you know what type of mushroom this is my child?_

_No, I've never been big into Botany._

_It's called a Tiger Mushroom. _Mfalme answered her, pointing to the black stripes that appeared across the vibrant orange mushroom. _It is known for its nutritional properties. You could thrive off of this mushroom alone if need be, but you'd get tired of the taste eventually._

Zaylee broke off a clump of the mushroom, sticking it into her mouth. _It doesn't taste too bad._

Mfalme smiled. _This one is one of my favorites. _He said, leading her to an incredibly large mushroom. It was glowing brightly, hues of orange, red, blue and white moving around the mushroom as if it was a huge lava lamp. _It's called a Fire Mushroom. Can you guess why?_

_It looks like it's on fire? _Zaylee offered.

_Well that, _Mfalme said, raising a clawed finger, _but it is much more interesting than you assume. _He sliced a gash into the flesh of the mushroom and flames leaped out of the wound, before the fire cauterized the opening shut.

Zaylee stared amazed at the flaming mushroom, beginning to wonder if the other mushrooms had such amazing properties.

_Each mushroom is different, and so is every cavern. If you want to fight the Night Clan that is the first thing you have to learn. _

_That's what you want me to do huh?_

_Your help is always needed, you know that Zaylee._

_Yeah, but how are these mushrooms going to teach me anything about the Night Clan's cavern. From what I saw, it's pretty much a desolate dump._

_Everything is different. But even some of these mushrooms have learned to adapt to the harsh conditions that Dark Water creates. You need to learn that too. Adaptability to any situation, fighting, or social, is a trait that makes an excellent fighter._

_I understand. _Zaylee said, Mfalme's comment about adapting to social changes cutting to her core. If she had adapted better, she wouldn't have had to leave. But as she looked at the cavern, she knew she was glad she was here.

_Come my child, you still have much to learn. _


	22. Chapter 22

**Eli is going to get himself killed one of these days... but boys will be boys I guess, right? **

Eli rode Lucky to Pulse's house, praying she'd be there. Not that this was by any means a good idea. She probably wanted to slice him in half if his theories were true. Tentatively, he knocked on her door, hopping nervously from foot to foot trying not to pee his pants from fear.

"Hey Eli, whacha doing here?"

Eli let out a little yelp and turned to see Xia dismounting her mecha.

"How manly," She joked. "What, were you shot by a Frightgeist?"

"No, I just wanted to ask Pulse something."

"Oh that is a terrifying venture. But… she's probably not going to talk to you, you know that right?" Xia's eyes also held a hint of anger in them that Eli was not used to seeing in the young elf.

"I know, but I need to know the truth."

Xia eyed Eli suspiciously, acting as if she didn't know what he was here for. She went up to the door and knocked again.

"I'm not opening the door until he leaves." Pulse's voice hissed from the other side.

"Pulse please; he's here because of the thing."

"Which thing?"

"You know exactly which thing I'm talking about. Now open the door."

Eli was completely baffled by this point, but the door opened to a grumpy Pulse none the less.

"Come in." She offered a smile that looked more like a grimace and an open hand that looked like it was going to slice Eli to ribbons without warning.

Fearfully, Eli stepped inside, where he was directed to a rickety chair. Pulse sat down on her couch and Xia sat next to her. Eli took a deep breath and cut straight to the chase.

"I need to know why Zaylee left."

Eli was met by deafening silence.

He struggled on against the obvious mental daggers Pulse was sending him. "Did she leave because of me?"

"Yes." Pulse stated simply.

"It was because Trixie and I wasn't it?"

Xia and Pulse both nodded.

"One more question. Does Zaylee like me? In a more-than-friends way?"

Eli was once again met by silence, but the looks on the two girl's faces said it all. He got up, mumbling a thank you and left the two on the couch to gossip about the encounter.

He rode home as fast as Lucky would go, his thoughts a whirl-wind of activity. This couldn't be true; he hadn't heard them confirm it. But he knew, deep down, it was true. Even more than that, he knew now what he wanted; he just had no idea how to get it.


	23. Chapter 23

**This is being posted so soon because I just realized I never posted last night... so... HERE. Enjoy!**

_I cannot stay and teach you all you need to know to improve your already excellent skills. But I am leaving you with two of my most trusted advisors. They will teach you everything else you need to know. _

Mfalme pointed to two remaining clans members. One was the female Zaylee recognized from earlier, and the other was assumedly her mate.

_Belatra and Razbo are excellent fighters. These siblings will teach you everything you need to know._

So she was close. The woman, Belatra smiled at her new pupil as Mfalme prepared to leave.

_Wait! _Zaylee called. _One more question. _

Mfalme paused and waited for her to continue.

_My father and Will, did they ever catch the slug they were chasing? _

_Yes my child, you have him now in fact. _Mfalme pointed to Stryx who was sitting in her belt. Zaylee looked down, amazed that the little Vampenkyeko, who usually kept to himself, could have caused so much trouble.

_Many of your special slugs originate from down here. Maybe you'll find some more while you're down here. _Mfalme smiled before disappearing in a cloud of smoke.

_Are you ready to begin your first lesson? _Belatra asked Zaylee

_Yes._

_Perfect._

Zaylee steeled herself as Razbo placed a blindfold over her eyes. It was going to be one hell of a ride.


	24. Chapter 24

**Wow, I sure did love using the italics in these stories... oh well, it's all for a reason. Hope you're enjoying this story so far, we are about halfway through... (Which means I need to get cracking on what happens next...) So keep reading and enjoy!**

_Zaylee,_

_Of all the times you had to leave. You had to pick now. _

_Okay, not that any time to leave is a good time. But I would really appreciate talking to you right now. _

_Things haven't been going that well with Trixie and I, and I've realized some things that bring into light that maybe the two of us aren't right for each other. The whole relationship was just such a whirlwind, I think it was doomed to fail from the start._

_Which brings me to the next topic of discussion: I talked to Pulse and Xia. I know why you left. And I just want to say I'm sorry. If I knew I had upset you, I would have talked to you right away. I couldn't guess, and of course, you never told me about it. (You and my dad have a great habit of keeping secrets ya know?) But I want to fix things, and I really want to talk to you about all of it. Along with whatever you've been up to the past few weeks. So as soon as you get these letters, please come talk to me. The sooner the better._

_With care,_

_Eli._


	25. Chapter 25

**Ah, I am so bad at consistent updating, and I haven't made that much progress on other things either. But it will all come together in the end. Let's hop back on over to Zaylee's story line and see what's going on with the green-eyed girl.**

_Lesson one. Heightening your senses. _Belatra's voice came to Zaylee, despite her lack of sight. _The worst thing for a human to do is see the Night Clan. They use their appearance against their opponents. If you can remain unperturbed, you have a better chance at gaining the upper hand. _

That had begun the fight sequences, over and over again, Zaylee falling over disorientated time and time again until she finally could sense the bodies of her opponents, the mushrooms around her and the rocks under her feet. Eventually she experienced the success she needed to gain the upper hand and defeat her teachers without her sight.

_Lesson two. How you fight. _Razbo was leading this lesson. _Every opponent is different. You have to learn to adapt._

More fighting with new styles Zaylee had never seen. It changed every time, whether she had succeeded the previous time or not. In time, she learned to adapt and moved on to lesson three.

There were balancing acts, tests of strength, endurance, capture this slug with a blindfold, capture this slug with your hands tied behind your back. Not that she needed two Acuses anyways, but she'd hold on to the new little guy for now. Little sleep, lots of work. Against her protesting muscles though, Zaylee could feel her improvement. Along with a growing sense of pride.

_Lesson sixteen. _Belatra began. _There will always be someone who can beat you. _She then had her butt handed to her sixteen times in a row.

That's one way to knock down the pride a notch.

And so the days pressed on, turning into two full weeks of intensive training. Eventually, as Zaylee was putting the thirtieth notch on the leather grip of her duffle bag, the siblings approached her with proud smiles.

_You are ready. _Razbo said before letting out a deafening screech, alerting the rest of the Shadow clan.


	26. Chapter 26

**Continuing with Zaylee's story line, because, as the main character, she should be the most important, right?**

***~*#*~***

The air shifted around them as clans members appeared, including Mfalme.

_My child. _He greeted her. _How have you faired?_

_It was nothing I couldn't handle. _Zaylee responded.

_Good, I suspected as much. Would you care to hear another story?_

_Gladly._

_Do you recognize this? _Mfalme asked, pulling out a Shadow Clan communicator head piece.

Zaylee shook her head in response.

_It's called a Shadow Talker. It helps the wearer communicate with the Shadow Clan. Only the strongest can withstand it. Will Shane used one, and now Eli has it. However, as you are aware, you and your father never needed one. We still aren't exactly sure as to why. While eras of Shanes have used this piece of technology, barely surviving the force of its power, the two Foxxes I have met have communicated effortlessly with our kind without this aide. _Mfalme tossed the piece aside. _This device, _Mfalme produced the Shadow Walker, _allows the user to teleport in the same manner we do. _Mfalme disappeared in a black swirling mist, only to appear next to Zaylee for extra effect. _Before you are ready to take on the Night Clan, we want to see if you are capable of this feat as well._

Zaylee looked slack jaw down at the round device, then to Mfalme, back to the device, and back to Mfalme again. _Seriously? _She asked incredulously.

_When do I ever joke? _Mfalme asked.

_Well, alright, I'll try. _Zaylee replied, standing up. _One question though, if I can talk to you, and you think I'm capable of teleporting… _Zaylee gulped, nervous at all the ways that could go horribly wrong. _Why can't I talk to slugs? _

_That is not completely known. You and your father are very special, and not knowing any other cases like you two, it is difficult to come to a full conclusion. But we are sure that you have a very special connection with your slugs. Perhaps if you worked on it, you could communicate with them. _

Zaylee felt her mouth turn up at the thought. It was the one thing she had always wanted since her father had given her the remainders of his arsenal; to know what her little slugs were always chattering on about.

_Transport from here to the top of that mushroom. _Her old teachers commanded her.

_That's kinda a tall order, isn't it? _Zaylee shifted nervously.

_Only because you have never tried it before. _Razbo advised her. _Focus your energy, visualize what you want to do. Transporting is a talent you have to be born with. The only reason you would have never done it before is if you had never tried. _

_Okay, I can do this. _Zaylee psyched herself up. She closed her eyes tight in concentration. _Visualize the mushroom._ _I want to go to the mushroom, I want to go to the mushroom. _She repeated in her head. First nothing, just blackness. She kept visualizing the mushroom, but she still could sense the congregation of Shadow Clan members around her.

Suddenly she was weightless, as if shrouded in an airy mist. Then she felt her feet hit something solid again. Even before opening her eyes, she knew she had done it.

She looked back to where Mfalme and the others were standing, a beaming smile on her face.

_Well done my child, well done._

_She is ready. _Belatra reminded him.

_Yes, it is time to put the Night Clan in their place once more._


	27. Chapter 27

**Still bad at consistent posting... but at least I am posting.**

**...**

Eli was asleep, drooling on the last letter he had written to Zaylee when he finally heard the rest of his friends coming in.

"Took them long enough." He muttered, still a little bitter about the whole thing.

He waited until the trio said their goodnights before he rushed out his door to confront his girlfriend.

"Hey Trixie, can I talk to you for a second?" He said, rubbing the back of his neck. There was no way this wasn't going to be awkward.

"Oh there you are, we were looking everywhere for you." Trixie feigned interest.

"I'm sure. All those other guys must have looked a lot like me." Eli spat back, making no effort to hide his hurt.

Trixie's look fell. "Yeah, I was thinking…"

"That maybe this isn't working out." Eli finished for her.

"Yeah, I just didn't know how to go about saying it nicely."

"You didn't do a good job; I'm not going to lie."

"Sorry, I didn't mean for any of this to get so out of control. I just didn't want to ruin our friendship."

"Who said a relationship would ruin our friendship?"

"Well, I wasn't a very good friend today." She sadly admitted. "I don't know how you'd want to even be an acquaintance of mine after tonight…"

"Well as your friend, I'm forgiving you."

"Really?"

"Absolutely. You are a great friend, but maybe we didn't make the best couple."

"Yeah you're right, so no hard feelings?"

"None."

"I'm glad, goodnight Eli." Trixie gave him a parting hug before heading off to her room.

Eli let out a breath he didn't know he had been holding. That was it. It was over. Now he just had to deal with the other feelings he had.


	28. Chapter 28

**Wow, again I am really bad at trying to make this whole "consistent updating" a I feel bad about it... Anyways, let's get back to Zaylee who has just discovered some new abilities and see what she's going to do with them. Sling on!**

_Let's do this. _Zaylee grinned, prepping herself as she transported herself back to the other clan members.

_You seem quite excited. _Mfalme looked at her.

_I just teleported! I mean I'm pretty sure I'm the only human who can do that._

Mfalme remained silent.

_What else did my dad not tell me? _She prodded.

_Things you will learn in due time. _Mfalme brushed the question off. _Are you ready to fight?_

_Absolutely._

Zaylee followed the Clan members in a cloud of black mist, teleporting up in the cavern where the Night Clan resided. The monsters were immediately drawn to her human scent, but she was prepared this time. She took a deep breath, planted her feet firmly, closed her eyes, and shot. There was one on her right; she shot it in the face with Pummel her Rammstone. One was quickly approaching from behind. She spun around, taking it out with Spike. She felt one of the clan members being overwhelmed. She shot Beamer his way to help him out. There were ten on her left. She shot Jett at them before shooting Rexy in front of her, taking out three of the Night Clan. She dodged a charging one, shooting him in the stomach as he leapt over her head. She weaved her way through the fray, shooting each Night Clan monster she sensed.

_How ya doing? _She joked when she ended up back to back with Mfalme.

_Obviously not as fine as you. _He responded sarcastically.

_I'll take the compliment for what it's worth. _She smiled, shooting another aggressor in the face with her Grenuker.

_I believe we have done enough damage for one day. _Mfalme said.

_Then shall we? _Zaylee asked.

_Indeed. _Mfalme replied, letting out a screech. The other Shadow Clan Members responded and they began disappearing, leaving the Night Clan defeated and in ruins.


	29. Chapter 29

**Hah! Twice in one day! Since when have I done that? Well I'm doing it because I feel bad, and I've actually started the next story, I feel like I can post a lot more. And also because I can't promise what I'm going to post tomorrow and so-on. Now let's crack on and see what's going on in Eli's little dramatic life.**

_Zaylee,_

_Trixie and I broke up. I just thought you might want/ deserved to know. I don't have much else to say, the break up was less awkward than I expected and things are slowly returning to normal. But nothing big has been happening since I met the unbeatable master. I mean, there was Dana, and the whole run-in with Blite, and then we got the rest of the parts for my new blaster upgrade, but none of that was really too difficult. Which means something big is going to happen soon. So please hurry up and come back. It's been over a month now. Not only do I really need to talk to you, but if things go south, I really need you to come save my ass. Kord has been talking about new shipments of dark water and ghouls coming from every which way. I know we can stop Blakk, but it'd be a lot easier if I could just call you for help instead of writing letters that you'll never respond to. And I hate not knowing where you are or how you are. _

_So please come back. The bottom line is that I miss you. I forgot how nice it was to have you in my life after not getting to see you for four years. But to see you again was amazing. And I really miss you now. So hurry up and get back to me safe._

_-Eli_

Eli let the pen fall from his shaking hand. He knew his feelings for Zaylee now. But he couldn't confess all his feelings on this sheet of paper. He had to take things slow. Even if it was true that Zaylee liked him as much as he did her, this wasn't anything he needed to be rushing into. She wasn't that type of person. And now he knew it wasn't a good idea to rush into a relationship. He had to calm down, he repeated to himself as he took the pen back between his shaking fingers. He had to take things slow. He dropped the pen and slammed his head on the desk in frustration.


	30. Chapter 30

**I feel bad I made this so long... hahaha no I don't. Anyways, after that last little chapter that I'm sure you can figure out what it means... let's get back to Zaylee and see what she's up to now.**

_You did well today my child. _

_Thanks, you weren't too bad yourself. _Zaylee joked with her kingly mentor. _But I have another question._

Mfalme looked at her expectantly.

_There was a force-field on one of the cavern walls. I didn't notice it the first time I was down there, but I saw it today. Is it to keep the Night Clan out of something, or to keep something out of the Night Clan?_

Mfalme frowned, unsure if he should tell Zaylee the truth. But when he looked at the young teenager, he knew she wouldn't accept anything but.

_We've told you about the Dark Bain before. _

Zaylee nodded.

_We are in a way related to them, as we are to the Night Clan. They have been around as long as we have, but the Dark Water has done things to them that make them and their creatures more dangerous than anything else you will ever face in this world. And unfortunately, there is more than one entrance to their realm. The entrance by the Night Clan's territory is small, but still possible for them to get through. The force-field there is different than the one that the Guardian Slugs protect. It is not as large so it does not require as much energy. However, the abundant Dark Water does weaken it. We only hope that because it is not as large, that the Dark Bain will not use it to gain access to this land._

Zaylee nodded, deep in thought. She knew what terrors would ensue if the Dark Bain gained access to this world. She only hoped that she and the Shadow Clan could stop them if it ever came to that.

_She is almost one of us._ Belatra reminded him.

_Yes, quite so. _Mfalme responded. _There is one more thing we can do for you my child to strengthen your connection to the Shadow Clan. It is optional though. _

_What is it? _Zaylee asked curiously.

_We can mark you. _

Zaylee looked confused at Mfalme.

_It is what you humans would call a tattoo. _Razbo clarified

Zaylee thought for a moment. Was this something she wanted to do?

_I'm willing. _She finally said.

_Then come with me my child._

Mfalme led her and the siblings down to another cavern, dotted with the blackest mushrooms Zaylee had yet to see. He broke off a piece of one, placing it into a ceremonial bowl that Razbo produced. Razbo mashed up the dark material, adding water to make a primitive ink. Belatra handed Mfalme a set of ornately decorated traditional inking hammers and needles. Zaylee looked at the tools. This was going to hurt.

Mfalme led the group back into the cavern Zaylee was beginning to call Sunset Cavern. The leader pointed to a spot on the ground and directed Zaylee to sit. The siblings drew a circle around the two, etching traditional markings in the ground. Razbo placed four torches for North, South, East, and West, his sister following behind him, lighting each so they glowed a bright green flame similar to the green glow the Shadow Clan emitted. Zaylee set her focus on the North torch, the green light a stark contrast in the reds and oranges of the cavern. Belatra took her right arm and began imprinting the tattoo starting at the inside of her wrist, spiraling all the way up her arm. She removed Zaylee's leather vest and continued the line of symbols to the back of her neck where her hairline was. All the while Mfalme and Razbo chanted an old Shadow Clan song. Zaylee kept her eyes focused on the green North flame as Belatra continued the painstaking and long task.

_You are strong. _She commented as she stamped in the last tattoo.

_You taught me much. _Zaylee replied.

Belatra smiled as she wiped off the excess ink.

_It suits you. _Mfalme said coming behind her and placing a protective hand on her head as Razbo and Belatra cleaned up the ceremony.

_Thank you._

_So you are staying here?_

_For the time being yes. _Zaylee said, standing up and examining her new tattoo. _I have a few other things I wish to look at. You will alert me if anything serious happens, will you not?_

_My child, you will sense it. _Mfalme responded, placing one thin finger on her nose and watching her green eyes glow, just like his did. He removed his finger and Zaylee's eyes returned to their normal state. Zaylee nodded in understanding as the three Shadow Clan members disappeared once more. She probably was alone now until she returned up to the populated areas of Slugterra.

She was alone. Just the way she intended it. However, she mused as she got ready to go to sleep, maybe she was tired of being alone.


	31. Chapter 31

**So Zaylee has a tatoo, Eli broke up with Trixie, and I am totally ignoring and skipping over like 95 percent of everything that is cannon! WHOO! Yes, I am having fun. This one is rather short, so I'm going to try and get some more stuff up today. Sling on!**

_Zaylee it has now been exactly 30 days since you left. I want you to come home. I know I sound demanding, but do you know how much you bossed me around as a child? I'm old enough to take care of myself now, but that also means I know when I need you to come home. We're running a huge heist tomorrow and if we don't make it out alive I'm blaming it on you and so haunting you in the afterlife. Hopefully this won't be the last letter you get from me, but this mission is going to be dangerous, possibly quite deadly. So if I'm not around when you come back- if you ever do. You know what happened. And if we never get to have that talk, so be it. _

_Your best friend (or at least I would hope),_

_Eli_


	32. Chapter 32

**That last one was really really short, so have another one right now! Hope you've enjoyed the story thus far!**

No not this memory. Not this one.

Zaylee pleaded with herself as her subconscious pulled up another memory from her child hood to play the star in her dreams.

_Zaylee was on her front porch crying. She hadn't even made it inside, let alone over to the Shane residence to play with her pal. She held her face in her little third-grader hands unaware of the young first grader walking up to sit beside her._

_"Zayles?" He asked questioningly._

_Her tear-stained face looked up to meet his deep blue eyes. She wiped her nose on her sleeve, not wanting her play mate to see her like this._

_"What's wrong?" Eli asked._

_"Nothing." She sobbed._

_"Why are you crying?" He persisted._

_"Because I can." She defended._

_"Seriously Zaylee, what's going on?" _

_"Alex said he doesn't like me." She finally broke down in another wave of tears._

_Eli wrapped an arm around her shoulder and rubbed her side; just like his dad did for him when Eli didn't want him to leave again. _

_"You're too good for him." Eli finally offered to console her._

_"How do you know that?" Zaylee challenged with a sniffle._

_"Because your dad knows about an entire different world that that Alex kid will never get to see. But you know what? We will. So we're special. We're better than he is."_

_Zaylee smiled a bit at Eli's pompous declaration. _

_"And you know what else?" He continued._

_"What?" Zaylee goaded him on._

_"You don't want to like a boy like that anyways. They're smelly." _

_"Boys are smelly huh?" Zaylee laughed at her younger friend._

_"Absolutely." _

_"Then get your arm off me ya Flatulorhinkus!" She joked back at him._

_"Hey I didn't say that I smell!" _

_Zaylee lifted his arm and feigned sniffing under his armpit. "Yeah, you totally smell." She laughed._

_"Then I'm going to make you smell too!" Eli joked putting his hands together like he was holding a blaster. _

_"Only if you can catch me first!" She laughed, running to the back yard. _

Zaylee shot up so fast she hit her head on the underside of her mecha. Cursing as she rubbed the now throbbing area, she was thankful that it was a happier memory than those that had been haunting her dreams the past few weeks. But none the less, it was still about her least favorite acquaintance right now. She just needed to forget him. He was happy with Trixie and she was here on a mission. She still had questions that needed to be answered that she could only find here. She took her Frostcrawler and put him on her arm that was still sore from the tattooing to ease the burning of repairing flesh. She lay her head back down on her tiny pillow to catch a few more minutes of sleep before she began to explore again.


	33. Chapter 33

**Wow! I'm on top of things today! I've given you so many short letters I feel bad... So here, have another!**

_Zay,_

_We made it out alive, no thanks to you though. It was a close scrape. If you had been there though, it would have been no sweat. The way we fight, we would have been unstoppable. Afterwards we went down to Amicus' to get some repairs done on our mechas and blasters. Kord is also planning some new upgrades with him that will be unbelievably killer. I was talking to Amicus about you, and he seemed to think that our fighting style is a lot like the way our dads fought together. He said something about "Covering each other's weaknesses and amplifying each other's strengths". Or something like that in his own Scottish way. He also cooked for us. And I think I might like Pronto's cooking better. _

_So here's another letter begging you to come back. It's been 46 days since you left and I've sent you 46 letters (so far if you include this one) begging you to come home. It's kinda sad, but if you could see me I would literally get on my knees and beg. _

_So here's to one more day of begging you to come back._

_~Eli_


	34. Chapter 34

**Ah, I'm a terrible person, and I'm sorry I didn't update over the holidays! And I'm even more sorry because I have to take a week hiatus because of a stupid band trip that I don't even want to go on, but am required to. So, apologies my dears, I hope you'll still love me and this little story of mine. Now let's go see what Zaylee is up to!**

Zaylee went through her new morning routine. Meditation, stretching, strength training, balancing acts, running, climbing cliffs. She had no idea how she'd repeat this once she got home, but she'd figure it out. She downed the last of her water and put it under a mushroom dripping with condensation to refill. Now it was mission time. Day 37 and she almost had all the answers to her questions. She had mapped out every cavern that she had explored so far over her time here, marking what types of plants were in each cavern, naming them and taking pictures on her camera, numbering on the map what photo they corresponded to. She then did so again with the rocks. She had catalogued each slug she found in a cavern, most, like Mfalme said, resided on her belt. But she had spent a good part of a day running around after a mischievous little Thuglet. She finally had the slug in her arsenal and named it Optimums Prime after her favorite Transformer.

Sure her maps were rough at best, but someone needed to map them. Maybe she could take Xia back here and use her technology to better get the shapes of the cavern walls and their dimensions. Not that this could ever get into anyone else's hands. To be a protector, you had to keep secrets. Zaylee knew that. She wasn't going to let people come down here to urbanize these pristine caverns. Or worse- get eaten by the Night Clan.

She was at the last pathway and cavern she had yet to explore, and she had yet to find the answer to her question: Where did Nacho come from? She had found plenty of other ugly monsters down here, but after intensive and dangerous research that had dominated a lot of time, she had yet to find another monster that was even similar to the dangerous Diablos Nacho.

She walked down the narrow path that led into the final unexplored cavern. It was large, with rivulets of molten rock trickling down the side, before hardening to create and re-create the cavern's floor. She stooped down, taking pictures of each kind of rock, Snoop producing a back light in the dark cavern. Zaylee catalogued each kind of mushroom and rock, grumbling about how she hated taxonomy and botany and geology and all those other –ologies she had never really paid attention to in school. But this was necessary. She had a theory to prove. She began carefully walking around the rivers of lava, looking for her fabled monster, but after observing every nook and cranny she could find, she found nothing.

She walked out of the molten cavern still at a loss for the answer to her question.


	35. Chapter 35

**I feel bad, so here, have another! It's another short letter anyways.**

_Zaylee_

_I am desperately wishing you were here right now. Today we got our butts handed to us again. It was ugly and we barely made it out alive. The gang's beat up pretty bad. We're all upset on how things went today. We were played, and it was an ugly fight. Blakk's getting stronger, better, and more brash. He's got something planned Zaylee, it's only a matter of time. He has more allies than we could ever muster to find and more funds than that. You've been gone for 52 days now. (53 since it is 1 AM here). If you don't hurry up and come home, I don't think we'll be able to hold him off for much longer. _

_This letter is going to be short because I'm tired; today was rough like I said. I just want you to know even if the fact you've been gone over a month now really annoys me, I'd rather you come home safe than fast. Both would be best, but I couldn't stand losing you for good. I miss you more than I think you can imagine. Seriously. So just come home soon, ok?_

_With care,_

_Eli_


	36. Chapter 36

**I am horribly aware I've been on a long hiatus, in all honesty though, I've been super busy. The only reason I am posting today is because I had to leave work early because I vomited in the trashcan outside the showroom. I'm a sad kitten right now. On to other orders of business though. I am working on both the next set for this story line, as well as my "too hot" fan fic. It's a lot of slow progress, but it's happening. I'll find time for it all don't worry. So any of you who put in request, just know I am working on it, it's just not going to be too soon. Bear with me please, my break has been busier than my school life. Okay, now that all that housekeeping is out of the way, let's see what Zaylee and the Shane Gang have gotten themselves into lately!**

_My child, we have a task for you._ Mfalme's voice cut through her mind as she was re-organizing her notes in Sunset Cavern.

_I am always willing to help you._

_The Shanes have taken on the dangerous task of trying to stop the Dark Bain from fully shattering the force field. However, the barrier is getting increasingly weaker and our guardian slugs are beginning to fail. We need you to go to the second opening and keep any Dark Bain from escaping._

_Of course. _Zaylee replied before severing the connection. She sighed; great, just great. She was going to have to go into the belly of the beast, fighting off flesh-eating Night Clan members, while also trying to keep the Dark Bain out of this realm. Just another day in the life of a Foxx.

She rallied her slugs before disappearing in a cloud of black mist from Sunset Cavern to the realm of the Night Clan. The monsters immediately swarmed around her. She shot Jet at them before creating an ice wall around her with her Frost Crawler. They were already beginning to scratch at the ice, despite the pain the frozen water caused them, and she knew the barrier wouldn't last long. She turned around to see how the force field was fairing. It was starting to show signs of cracking and bits of red were seeping through. That was anything but good.

Trying to ignore the Night Clan and her certain doom on the other side of her ice barrier, she moved closer to the cracking force-field, wondering just how she was going to keep it from disintegrating completely. There had to be an answer, but what?

_The force field here, what keeps it in tact? _She reached her thoughts out to Mfalme.

_The same power of the guardian slugs that keep the main entrance sealed extends to the smaller entrances._

_Are there more entrances I should be worried about?_

_No, my best warriors are protecting the rest of the entrances. Just make sure nothing gets out._

_I will do all I can._

Zaylee severed the connection as one of the hideous claws of the night clan broke through her frozen barrier. Quickly, she shot Icy again to refortify the wall, but it was already too late. The Night Clan turned her barrier to meager ice cubes and the monsters were advancing on her quickly. Cursing, she shot her Aquabeek, followed by her Dinorawr and Acus, trying to fend them off. She would have appreciated it if Mfalme had sent some of the Shadow Clan members down to help her, but she had a feeling that this situation had them spread pretty thin as it was. She had to transport away from the breaking force field to give herself more space to fight, as well as to keep the hideous monsters away from the Dark Bain's territory.

When she was busy fighting off the monsters, she didn't notice the cracking noise of the force field breaking, mistaking it for her stepping on a bone. Nor did she notice a large sting-ray looking thing fly above the fight and disappear out into Slugterra. She just continued fighting the Night Clan until Mfalme's voice cut through her conscience.

_Well done my child. The Dark Bain have been contained once again. For now at least._

_So Eli did it, huh?_

_Yes, while his methods may not have been very orthodox, he achieved a great victory. _

_He's a just teenager, give him a break. _Zaylee chortled as she transported herself back to Sunset Cavern. Exhausted from her strenuous fighting, she collapsed to the ground, her slugs too tired to move from her belt as they all succumbed to a well needed sleep.


	37. Chapter 37

**I feel bad for neglecting my stories, so here, have another one! I'll probably post one more after this because I do feel rather bad for neglecting my lovely readers. This is when I'm going to start skipping significant chunks of the cannon story line, because a lot of this is added after I wrote it the first time, so again, bear with me, I'm sorry if it doesn't feel quite right in comparison to the rest of the story. It's still pretty darned good in my opinion.**

_Zayls,_

_Again, I'm going to desperately beg you to come back. On my knees, crying pleading and begging. Seriously, I'll pull the waterworks if you'd just come back. I thought I really was starting to have things under control, and I was getting used to knowing that you wouldn't save me when I got in over my head anymore, but ever since Blakk got out of Stalagmite 17,things have been tough. I could really use some extra help right about now. Things are seriously going south with and there are Dark Bain everywhere. I don't know how secluded you are right now, but if you have no clue what's going on, that's pretty insane. But I doubt that you're completely out of the loop. And if you have one inkling of an idea of what's going on here, you should know that Slugterra needs you now more than ever. The Shane Gang is doing all it can, but I have a feeling things are about to go real south real soon, so if you could hurry up and come home, I don't think I'd be able to stress how much I'd appreciate that. Really. It's not that I just miss you more than anyone in the world; it's that I need you here to help me, to console me, to be my friend. Slugterra needs you. You're their silver slinger and they need you more than I think you realize._

_So Zays, please, please, please come back fast. Safe of course, your life is more important obviously, but you need to come home soon. Not that you'll read this until you get home, but maybe you can hear my pleading all the way from wherever you are right now._

_With all my hope and care,_

_Eli_


	38. Chapter 38

**Last one for tonight, hope you enjoy it. I'll probably have another sick day tomorrow, so I'll try my best to put more up tomorrow. Again, I just skipped basically all of cannon season 3, but it's time to wrap this story up. Enjoy!**

Zaylee nicked the 70th tick mark onto the handle of her bag with pride. In that time she had decided what to actually do with her time away, she had gotten a new piercing and some new totally awesome tattoos, and she had become stronger, faster, and a better slinger. She had discovered new mushrooms, monsters, and rocks, along with helping her friends the Shadow Clan defeat some serious bad guys. After the near escape a few weeks back, the Night Clan had been restless, looking for new ways out and she had been very busy keeping them contained as the Shadow Clan tried to fight off the evils that had escaped from the Dark Bain's realm, and now the Dark Bain themselves. She still had some unanswered questions, but all in all, it had been a productive two months and she felt like more of a hero than ever before.

Now it was time to go home.

She rummaged around in her bag making sure she had everything she came with when her hand came across a rumpled napkin. Why on earth would she bring this? Curious, she pulled the napkin out of her bag to look at it. She rolled her eyes. She could recognize that spiky handwriting anywhere.

_Bring me back a souvenir._

_Xia._

Except that Xia had crossed out "me" several times and replaced it with "**E-V-E-R-Y O-N-E**" above it.

Zaylee rolled her eyes and stuffed the napkin in her boot. She knew exactly what Xia meant.

She just hated having to be the bigger person and actually doing it.

_My child. _Mfalme's voice cut through the air. _Do you not sense it?_

_What? The Night Clan? Yeah, I can take care of them one more time before I leave._

_No. The portals that have been opening. _

_What portals? _Zaylee asked confused, racking her brain for what Mfalme was cryptically talking about.

_That Blakk has opened for the Dark Bain._

Zaylee palled. How could she have not noticed it? Sure she had been having bad dreams lately, but that's all they were, right?

_What do I need to do?_

_Not much, we will try and close the portal, but we need you to block off the cavern to the Night Clan once and for all. If they or any other Dark Bain escape through there, you know the consequences would be dire._

_Of course. _Zaylee replied, quickly cutting off the connection and running towards the Night Clan's cavern, ignoring the fact that her mecha or transporting abilities could get her there faster. She arrived at the small crack in the wall of the cave were she could hear the Night Clan growling. They must have some idea of what was going on- which could only mean bad things. Looking at her arsenal, she thought about the best way to go about the situation. She had plenty of things that could make the hole bigger, but none that would block it off for good. She peeked in at the monsters, trying to think what would keep them and their neighbors behind the force field locked away for good. Suddenly Snoop hopped on her shoulder chirping away

"You think you know a solution?" She asked the golden slug.

He nodded happily, jumping into her blaster. Zaylee shot him before running after him.

She was back in the cavern that was full of rivers of lava.

"A Forgesmelter! How genius!" She exclaimed as she continued to follow Snoop, jumping around the molten rivulets around her feet. He stopped in the middle of a small colony of Forgesmelters, chattering to them. One hopped forward with him, a happy smile on his face.

"Now that's what I like to see, good job buddy." She scratched her Fimber's head as she put him back on her belt.

"Hey little guy," She addressed the Forgesmelter. "I've got a pretty important job for ya, what do you say?"

The Forgesmelter smiled happily, hopping into her hand.

"Awesome, how about the name Baux?"

The slug nodded excitedly as Zaylee transported back to the entrance of the Night Clan. They were even more restless and were beginning to scratch at the opening in the cave. It looked like she had arrived not a moment too soon.

"Alright Baux, you think you can patch up that crack?"

The slug grinned and hopped in her blaster. Zaylee shot the slug watching as the heated lava cooled into an impermeable metal.

"Awesome, great job little guy." She smiled as she held her hand out for the slug. He happily jumped back into her blaster and Zaylee headed back to her mecha to finish preparing for her over-due journey home.


	39. Chapter 39

**Last letter, I swear! And you know what that means, Zay's going to go home soon! But you also know I'm going to drag everything out to the last mile. But keep reading, it's all worth it! Read, review, and Sling on!**

_Zaylee,_

_Even without you, I've finally defeated Blakk once and for all. It was a terrifying experience. He opened a portal to the Dark Bain's world, almost releasing Armageddon on Slugterra. We barely defeated them, and I almost died in the process. Fortunately Burpy was able to save me just in time. Let me tell you, riding an Infurnus is an experience like no other. You'll have to try it sometime. Now that everything has calmed down, it'd be really great to see your face and just talk. There are still plenty of small disturbances that I would love you to help out with, and we can't forget B.E.E in the background of course, but more than anything, after these two months you've been gone, (did I mention over TWO WHOLE MONTHS?!- 72 days to be exact), I really just want to sit down and catch up. I don't think you realize how important you are to me, and how much I miss you. So I hope you hurry back soon, life just isn't as great with you around. _

_With all my care,_

_Eli_

Eli groaned, the letter was a crappy representation of his feelings, but he felt like he couldn't go any more in depth without confessing all his feelings he felt for his best friend. He stroked Burpy absentmindedly, just hoping Zaylee would get home soon.


	40. Chapter 40

**I'm just posting more because I'm so excited to be so near the end of this leg of the story, and also because I don't know how consistent I can be once school starts up again for me. So hope you like this chapter! I'll post more later!**

Zaylee rode her mecha up the slope and away from the caverns. She had one more thing to do though before she could officially say she was going home. She dismounted and walked up to Desdemona's door, knocking on the weary thatched door.

"Who's there? Eh? I'm coming" Zaylee heard from within as the old woman made her way to the door.

"Hello." Zaylee greeted Desdemona congenially as the woman opened the door.

The old woman looked surprised, but none the less gestured for Zaylee to step inside.

"You didn't think I'd make it out of there did you?" Zaylee challenged as she stepped inside the small dark hut.

"If you want an old woman's honesty? No, of course not." Desdemona replied pouring Zaylee a bowl of soup. "But it appears you have friends in all the right places. Just like your father." She said pointing to Zaylee's new tattoos as she handed the teen her bowl of soup. Zaylee took the soup, sniffed it, and ate quickly, trying to hide her disgust at whatever the soup was made of. It tasted like Pronto's bug goulash.

"I did fulfill my promise." Zaylee reminded the old woman. "I came back, alive, to see you. And before I head on my way home I have one more thing to ask you." She said pulling a sack of gold coins from out of her boot.

"Ah yes of course dear." Desdemona replied catching on to Zaylee. She got up and began rummaging around the small hut. "So tell me dear, did you succeed in what you wanted to accomplish?"

"Yes and no." Zaylee shrugged. She got up handing the old woman a handful of coins. The woman placed something in her hand, closing it tight.

"I hope this will satisfy what you are looking for. Take care dear." She smiled at Zaylee.

"You too." Zaylee responded before walking out of the house and remounting her mecha. She was homeward bound now, just a few more stops, she could see the finishing line.


	41. Chapter 41

**Oh my gosh guys! We're getting closer to the end! This is almost kinda sad! Mostly because this chapter is so sappy despite it's length. Enjoy and I'll be back with some more shortly! And I'm so sorry for making you wait so long!**

Her apartment and huge bed were getting closer by the second. She stopped by Corkscrew Cavern for a stop at the gift store to fill Xia's request. She also took the time to rent a motel just for enough time to shower because now that she was among civilized people again, she realized she really needed a shower.

She shrugged off the looks people kept giving her about her new tattoos. Some people didn't recognize her as a hero, so the Shadow Clan symbols crawling up her arm made her an enemy to them. Or just stupid in some people's eyes. But she stood tall and wore her new ink proudly.

What mattered most is that she was ready to go home and be these people's hero once more.

She had a new mission.

In fact, a few new missions.

And she knew now, exactly where she needed to be.

And that was with her friends, saving this world with them.


	42. Chapter 42

**That last one sure was sappy, huh? Well, here have a less-sappy one!**

Just one more stop. One more dreadful stop.

It wasn't dreadful because it delayed her homecoming, or that she had some aversion to this place, but the fact that she knew she was going to get an earful and a half about the wear and tear she had put on her mecha. That's why her stomach did a flip as she entered Stony Brooke cavern.

Zaylee raised the knocker to Amicus' stone house, hearing the noise reverberate through every stone in the cavern, and the shuffle of Amicus' large feet across the stone floor.

"Aye me lassie! It's been so long! How are ya? I see ye've been doing some cahootin' with the Shadow Clan." The cave troll rambled, poking his large finger at her tattoos.

"Hey Amicus," Zaylee smiled, "It's good to see-"

"Ach! What have ye done to yer poor mecha?! It looks like it's been through a war zone 'n back!"

"Well it kinda was…"

"How long have ye been going on this fan belt? And-"

"Well," Zaylee raised her voice over the scotch troll's ranting, "That's why I brought it to the best mechanic in all of Slugterra."

Amicus smiled wryly at the comment. "Still as smart as ever lass. Come in, I'll pour ye a bowl of stew."

Zaylee followed him inside where he poured some green thick concoction into an earthen bowl for Zaylee. She willingly took the bowl, remembering the first time she had some of Amicus' stew. Apparently she and her dad were the only ones Amicus had ever met who asked for seconds.

She made her way over to the garage, pulling herself up onto an empty counter space, not that there was much to be seen, and watched Amicus bring her mecha into the garage.

"Did Will or my father ever mention going down to the western caverns?" Zaylee asked while Amicus began his work.

"Eh, once or twice, they were more of the live-in-the-present type of guys."

"Figures."

"Ye'll never guess who came here to have their mechas upgraded not too long ago." Amicus tried to keep the conversation going.

Zaylee paused, thinking as Amicus pulled out his welding tools and mask.

"I have no idea." She finally concluded as the blue flame disappeared. "Who?"

"The Shane Gang."

Zaylee almost choked on a chunk of meat in her stew.

"Were they now?" Zaylee spewed, her voice not sounding as nonchalant as she had hoped.

"Aye. Eli seemed like he missed ye quite a lot."

"What, he wasn't too busy sucking face with Trixie?" Zaylee sneered, before she frowned. Maybe she wasn't quite over the whole thing as she wanted to be.

"Nay, ye know, I may not be young, but I know a pair of love birds when I see 'em. And those two did not look like they were together."

Zaylee's spoon clattered to the floor. That meant- no. She had to squash that seed of hope before it germinated. Eli was her friend. Nothing more.

"They've also had some crazy upgrades to their blasters, makes the slugs go even faster and transforms them into, ah, what did Eli call them? Oh yeah, Megamorphs."

Zaylee managed to chuckle at the name despite her spinning head. It sounded like he pulled it out of the TV shows he loved to watch on Saturdays as a kid.

"D-do you think you could do the blaster upgrade for me?" She managed to ask.

"Of course! Red Hook's not the only blaster genius in these realms. It might take me a while though."

"Oh that's fine; I'll just go get myself some more stew." She left her blaster on the table and walked off to the kitchen, completely lost in her thoughts. She didn't want to admit it, but her heart was aching for a chance for her and Eli to be more than friends. But they didn't have time for that; they had a world to save. And she knew that the road ahead had nothing but trouble.

Her mental battle waged on as she walked back into the workshop and watched Amicus tinker with her blaster. After a hearty third helping of soup Amicus seemed to make a noise of triumph, snapping Zaylee out of her reverie.

"Well that should do it." Amicus said as he patted the side of her PAN-T3R, and handing her blaster back to her. "I've got ye more than functional again, along with some new features I've been developing."

"Perfect, thank you." She smiled, putting the blaster back on her belt and moving to mount her mecha.

"It's always good to see ya lass, but ye should come to visit me more often than when your mecha needs an upgrade."

"I'm a busy kid, you should come visit me." Zaylee joked. "But I do have one more favor to ask you before I go."

"Anything for you lassie."


	43. Chapter 43

**The story's not over yet, but I bet that most of you lovely readers will love this little chapter best. Zaylee's almost to her own apartment, but she has to make one more stop along the way. Who could that be? Hmmm, I wonder. **

Riding at the wild new top speed Amicus had been able to give her mecha; Zaylee was a few simple caverns away from her own apartment, her own bed, her technology. She couldn't wait to call her friends and tell them all about her months away from home.

Zaylee looked across her landscapes to check approximately where she was. Slowing her mecha down, she realized she wasn't too far from the Shane hideout. Her stomach did an involuntary flip and she tried to swallow, but her throat was suddenly very dry. Should she go? She wasn't sure she was ready to face the Gang after so long. Especially Eli. Especially if Amicus was wrong and he was still dating Trixie.

Still, she felt herself turning her mecha in the direction of the little house the four shared. She gulped again, her palms beginning to sweat and slip on the metal handle bars of her ride. It was a bad idea. She could still turn back, there was plenty of time to visit them later.

"I CAN SEE ZAYLEE'S MECHA OUTSIDE!" Pronto's voice screamed from inside.

If she ever disliked Pulse's boyfriend, it was now. So much for turning back.

"Zaylee?" Eli's head popped out the front door. He broke into a huge smile and Zaylee smiled too, remembering the same smile he would get on his face when she came home from school to play with him when they were kids.

He tried to run out to greet her, but tripped on his own two feet and landed face first in the dirt, his slugs laughing hysterically as his face turned crimson in embarrassment.

"Hey, why don't you come in," Kord offered grinning mischievously as he went to help Eli up. The rest of the Shane Gang was inside laughing hysterically at Eli's failure.

"Sure, I'd love to." Zaylee smiled, picking up her now significantly heavier duffle and making her way inside. She gave herself mental props for being much cooler and more collected than Eli.

"Oh hey Zaylee!" Trixie exclaimed, genuinely happy to see the older teen.

"Hey Trixie." Zaylee muttered, trying to smile.

"Here sit, I'll get you something to drink." She directed, running off to the kitchen.

Zaylee stared after her confused as she sat down on the couch. This couldn't be right… Trixie was being nice? Did that mean she was still with Eli? Or was she being nice to get something out or Zaylee later?

"Zaylee! How have you been?" Eli rushed in, tripping over himself again. "Did you get my letters?" He asked looking up from the floor.

"No," Zaylee laughed at her friend as Trixie handed her a drink. "I haven't even been home yet."

"Letters?" Kord asked.

"_Love_ letters?" Pronto modified.

"What? No!" Eli tried to cover his once again blushing features by looking at some suddenly intriguing book on the coffee table.

Zaylee took a large gulp of water, trying to hide her mirroring blush.

"What's that?" Eli asked, suddenly right beside her and tracing her tattoos up her arm. Zaylee almost choked on her water.

"I spent some time with the Shadow Clan." She coughed.

"Oh right, you're really close to them." Kord said, craning his neck around Eli to try and see the tattoos better.

"Yeah, I helped them out with some stuff concerning the Night Clan and the Dark Bain."

"Oh so you knew about them too?" Trixie asked, about to go into a detailed explanation about how they had beaten Blakk, but Eli cut her off.

"When did you get this?" Eli asked, cupping Zaylee's cheek as he held her latest piercing between his thumb and fore finger.

Zaylee swallowed a squeak, and quickly darted her eyes over to Trixie. Not a hint of jealousy in her features. Zaylee looked back at Eli's bright blue eyes, losing her train of thought twice before she could fully answer.

"I-I got it from a woman who lives near the edge of the western caverns." She swallowed again, Eli's hand still resting on her face, and his eyes staring into hers. "It protects the wearer from some of the effects of Dark Water. Which reminds me!" Zaylee suddenly exclaimed, glad to have a reason to break the physical contact between her and Eli. "I got something quite like it for you Trixie." She reached into her boot, pulling out a silver ring shaped like a "u" with a purple gem on either side of the split of the ring.

"It has the same properties." Zaylee explained, "but I figured red wasn't your color." Zaylee laughed awkwardly, brushing the hair out of her face so the others could see the red gem Eli had been so intently staring at earlier. Or had he been looking into her eyes?

Trixie took the ring from Zaylee's open palm. "Thank you! I love it so much!" She smiled, examining the ring proudly on her middle finger.

"And of course you got something for Pronto as well." The Molenoid spoke up.

"Of course I did Pronto." Zaylee smiled, reaching now into her duffle bag. "I just figured you weren't a big fan of rings, so I got you this." She handed him a white box. Pronto greedily took it, quickly ripping the top off to discover what was inside.

He pulled out a glistening glass figurine, the Molenoid figure posed triumphantly over a small hill. "Oh thank you, thank you, thank you! It looks just like Pronto!" He gave Zaylee a huge, bone-crushing hug.

"You're welcome." Zaylee grimaced as she peeled Pronto off her.

"And for you 'Cave Troll'." She grinned, trying to do her best impression of Amicus as she looked to Kord. "I stopped by a dear friend of mine's for your gift." She smiled reaching back in her bag for the heaviest item.

"A two-handed, double-torque mecha wrench! These are like impossible to find! Oh this is so awesome!" Kord exclaimed, examining Zaylee's spoils from Amicus' workshop.

"Did you get me anything?" Eli asked; his eyes the childish big hues Zaylee couldn't say no to.

"Of course." She smiled, the motherly way she used to when she gave Eli little gifts like when they were kids. She went to her belt and pulled the second Acus she had caught when she was in the lower caverns.

"I figured he'd be a great addition to your arsenal." Zaylee smiled, handing the silver slug over to Eli.

"Wow, thanks." Eli smiled up at Zaylee. "How about the name Punch, little guy?"

Zaylee grinned; trying not to snicker at Eli's poor naming skills.

"It's good to see you again." Eli smiled, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly.

"I never thought I'd say it, but it's good to be back." Zaylee returned the smile.

"I missed you." Eli said, before enveloping Zaylee in a huge hug.

"I-I missed you too." Zaylee squeaked, surprised at this sudden show of, dare she use the word, affection. She looked around, trying to gauge everyone's reactions, but they were all too busy with their new gifts to notice. "I missed you too." She repeated, wrapping her arms around Eli's back and settling into the hug.

"I can't stay for long though." She said after a little while, beginning to feel like the hug was becoming less and less platonic.

"What? Why not?" Eli pulled back to look at her with pouting eyes. "We have so much to catch up on!"

"I have to see Pulse, Xia, and Danna." Zaylee looked away, trying to not be swayed by the infamous Shane puppy pout. Even Will Shane as a grown man could use that weapon to get his way with the Mrs. Shane.

"But you just got here…"

"Eli, it's not the last time you'll see me." Zaylee tried to reason, however, Eli continued to pout. Zaylee sighed, giving Eli one more tight hug. "I promise." She whispered into his ear before she raced out the door to try and avoid any more of Eli's big-eyed begging. Her head was swimming, refusing to face the feelings that were throwing themselves to the forefront of her mind.


	44. Chapter 44

**Okay, so these next couple of installments are just to wrap things up sort of. You know that "and they all lived happily ever after but not really sort of thing because I totally have way more planned for them" sort of thing. So yeah, sorry I'm so bad at consistent updating, but I hope you are still enjoying this story!**

Zaylee's face was still burning red as she parked her mecha and made her way up on shaking legs to her apartment. Did that really just happen? She couldn't comprehend how they hadn't seen each other for a month and Eli treated her like some long lost love.

Not that she minded it, she thought, a small grin creeping its way across her lips. But it wasn't really appropriate, to close, to soon. She fumbled with the locks to her apartment, but the door swung open of its own accord.

"You're home!" A mess of yellow and black squealing a painfully high-pitched note attacked her in a huge bear hug.

"Hello Xia, I can tell you missed me." Zaylee laughed in a strangled voice, her lungs reduced to half their usual capacity.

"Did you get my letter? Because you sure got a lot." Xia handed her all 75 of Eli's letters in a stack, held together by rubber bands.

"What is this?" Zaylee asked surprised.

"Yeah, I think someone's got the hots for you." Her friend teased.

"I'm thinking he might." Zaylee tried to hide her smile. "I already stopped by their house."

"What? You didn't come see us first?!"

"It was en route. We can still do dinner. I'll give you, Danna and Pulse your _souvenirs_."

"Oh you did get my letter! I'm so happy to see you home!" Xia paused awkwardly. "I guess I'll just leave you to your reading." She gave Zaylee a wink that made her think Xia knew more than she should.

"Lemme just grab my stuff." Xia rushed off to the bedroom to grab her small bag.

"Thanks for looking after the place while I was gone." Zaylee gave her another hug when she returned. "I'll see you at Ricochets' around eight alright?"

"Okay!" Xia smiled heading towards the door.

Zaylee looked down at the pack of letters, taking her time to undo the rubber bands. She wasn't sure how much she really wanted to read all of these.

"And no peeking at your gift!" Zaylee called, sensing Xia silently reaching for the duffle bag."

"How did you know? Your back was turned to me!"

"I picked up a few new tricks, I'll explain at dinner."

"Lemme guess, the tattoo has something to do with it."

"In part, yes."

"Alright well I'll see you then." Xia said, closing the door, leaving Zaylee alone with the letters. She slowly made her way to the couch, a nervous anticipation settling right in the bottom of her gut.

She read each scrawling word hungrily, noticing how some letters, the less emotional ones, were neater than the ones about his feelings for Trixie, the letters that had subliminal messages between the lines that made Zaylee's hands shake as they hinted at his growing feelings for her. She noticed the tear stain on the letter that talked about his dad, and with shaking hands, she re-read each one, picking up on endearments and closing lines that were a bit closer than family friends should be.

Zaylee let her head fall back, suddenly feeling sick. He liked her. She wasn't stupid, she could read the signs. And sure, she liked him back. She had run away out of anger when he chose some stupid red-head over her after all. However, there was no way she could let a relationship happen. Not with what she knew about the Dark Bain's secrets now. Not with B.E.E rising in the ranks of evil as well. Not when there was a possibility that one of them could get mortally wounded in their job positions. Not when she didn't know how to describe her feelings as a simple "I like him." No, because it was much more than that. She groaned in frustration. She'd just ignore it until the time was right.

Yeup. That sounded like a plan of action to her.


	45. Chapter 45

**Gee we're getting close to the end. That means I have to start writing for the next story! Crap, what am I going to do? Anyways, this one's rather short but I have to tie up some loose ends and set up for future things, so enjoy this little scene!**

"Dude, you scared her off!" Kord joked at Eli after Zaylee had rushed out the door.

"What are you talking about?!" Eli tried to defend himself, but Kord was right, he had been far to forward.

"A woman is like a rib salad-" Pronto began, but Eli stopped listening, poking absent mindedly at his slugs. Zaylee had taken over his mind and it was starting to mess with him. He needed to focus on stopping evil, not how wonderful every aspect of Zaylee was. She had grown up so much since she had gotten down here, he felt like he could never live up to her amazing abilities as a slinger and a person. Not to mention how much certain aspects of her had… matured… since their pre-teen days. He got up making an excuse of wanting to go take a walk, ignoring Pronto's protest about him not paying attention to his advice.

"Let it rest Pronto," Trixie called from her computer, "If he wants to be alone, he wants to be alone."

"You better not be jealous." Kord warned looking over at her.

"I'm not, we talked about this already. Eli and I shouldn't have been in a relationship, it was my fault and I fixed it, everyone's happy now, so let it go. If anything happens between him and Zaylee, that's simply out of our control, so don't worry about it."

"They don't need a relationship right now, there's too much going on right now." Kord responded in a warning tone, even though everyone there already knew that. It was the two potential love birds who needed a clue.

"And hopefully one of them knows that as well." Trixie sighed quietly.


	46. Chapter 46

**Ah! So this is the last chapter of *this* fic! Of course, Zaylee's story will be continued, but after this dear loves, I will be taking a hiatus of sorts. I am going to be doing lots of writing; for Zaylee's story as well as my Too Hot fic some of you may remember (I haven't forgotten I swear!). Not to mention I have a super busy semester on my plate here in college. So here this is the end temporarily. I hope you've enjoyed this so far and I hope you'll stick with me for my stories to come! This has been such a pleasure to write and you are such a wonderful audience to write for! So without further ado-!**

"Thanks for treating us to dinner," Pulse smiled.

"And thanks for the cool gifts!" Xia held up her new drill and Pulse agreed, her new Vampenkyeko resting happily on her shoulder. Danna grinned as well; scratching the Thuglet Zaylee had given her on the head. It had taken the better part of an hour to convince the pink-haired girl that the tattoos on Zaylee's arm were not a bad thing.

"I'm glad you enjoyed it." Zaylee grinned, waving to Mario as they left the pizza parlor. "It's sure nice to see you guys again."

"It was too long." Xia stated.

"It was necessary though."

"Do you think that theory about the Dark Bain and Will Shane is true?" Pulse piped in.

"I don't think it's true; I know it's true." Zaylee said with a hard face. She might have left that tiny detail out when she was talking to Eli earlier.

"What are you going to do about it?" Danna asked.

"I'll figure it out later. Right now I'm dying to sleep in my own bed." She laughed, getting on her mecha and waving goodbye to her friends again as she rode off.

Of course though, home meant the glaring pile of letters that she couldn't bear to respond to, but she couldn't bear to throw away either.

But of course, ignoring them was the perfect plan of action to her.

**Till next time my slug slingers! Keep reading and I'm excited to see what some of you guys are writing as well!**


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